Franklin and Mann Win Gold as Arena Grand Prix at Orlando Concludes

2/16/2013

Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) and Becca Mann (Clearwater, Fla.) each closed out the Arena Grand Prix at Orlando with two first-place finishes. Franklin won the 200m back and the 100m free, while Mann earned the top spot in the 800m free and the 200m IM. The meet, which took place at the YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando, was the third stop of the 2012-2013 Arena Grand Prix Series.

Franklin won back-to-back events Saturday night, first winning the 200m back in 2:08.47 and then the 100m free in 55.37. Franklin, who owns the world record in the 200m back, bested the field by more than two seconds. Hilary Caldwell was second in 2:11.11 while Kylie Stewart was third in 2:11.48. In the 100m free, second place went to Olympic silver medalist Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.) in 55.99 and in third place was Olympic gold medalist Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) with a time of 56.06

Becca Mann had an impressive showing in Orlando with a total of six top-three finishes over three days. She competed in the first event of the night, the 800m free, and then swam minutes later in the final of the 200m IM. Mann won the 800m free in 8:27.37, beating the field by over 10 seconds. Ashley Steenvoorden was second in 8:38.06 and Alexa Komarnycky placed third in 8:41.67. Mann won the 200m IM in 2:15.25. Komarnycky, also doing the double, placed second in 2:16.98 and Carolyn McCann finished third with a time of 2:18.13.

Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) turned in a strong performance in the men’s 200m IM. He won the event in 2:01.32, out touching fellow 2012 Olympic teammates Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.). Clary was second in 2:02.91 and Dwyer placed third in 2:03.39.

Clary followed-up his second-place finish in the 200m IM with a win in the men’s 200m back. He finished in 1:57.85, ahead of Yannick Lebherz, who was second in 1:59.31, and Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla.), who finished third in 1:59.92.

Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin (Berkeley, Calif.) won the men’s 100m free with a time of 49.85. Robbie Renwick of Scotland was second in 50.36 and Kevin Leithold placed third in 50.83.

In the final event of the night, Michael Klueh won the men’s 1500m free with a time of 15:29.34. Esteban Enderica was second in 15:34.82 and Arturo Perez Vertti of Mexico was third in 15:48.82.

The next stop on the 2012-2013 Arena Grand Prix Series will be in Mesa, Ariz., April 11-13. The Series will conclude June 2, 2013 in Santa Clara, Calif. As part of USA Swimming’s new, eight-year partnership with Arena, the Arena Grand Prix Series will offer swimmers the opportunity to take home prize money for top finishes in all individual Olympic-distance events for each meet in the Series. An overall leaderboard for the Series can be found online here.

The Arena Grand Prix Series serves as an opportunity for swimmers to race against some of the best competition in the country as they continue their preparation for the 2013 Phillips 66 National Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., World University Games in Kazan, Russia and the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

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